California’s infection and hospitalization rates fall, but vaccine explosion hits – NBC Los Angeles

After a deadly, months-long coronavirus outbreak, California is starting to drop infection and hospitalization rates, even as the state struggles to sharpen a chaotic vaccination program and warns people to keep their hats off.

The number of new virus cases reported on Tuesday was just over 12,000, the lowest daily figure since November. In early January, the daily score was regularly above 40,000.

Hospital capacity is increasing after they plunged so low in December that overwhelming facilities talked about rationing. If current trends continue, the number of COVID-19 hospital patients will drop by half in early March, said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of health and human services, said Tuesday.

The Biden administration said it would increase the distribution of vaccines and use pharmacies directly. Patrick Healy reported on NBC4 News on Tuesday, February 2, 2021.

Another measure is the capacity of intensive care units. Most provinces received home stay orders in December. Southern California – the most populous and hard-hit region of five states designated by the state – has depleted its usual ICU beds and remained at 0% until January.

But in just over three weeks, the number of ICU patients across the country dropped from a record nearly 4,900 to about 3,800, and all government purchases at home were lifted.

The state projects that the Southern California region could reach the ICU capacity of 44% within four weeks.

California has recorded more than 41,000 deaths – placing it just behind New York among the states – but even the pace could start to decline. After averaging 544 daily deaths last week, the last three daily counts averaged 371.

Still, Ghaly said COVID-19 fall rates are “lower, but not low.”

Southern California championship celebrations over the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series victory and NBA crown for the LA Lakers last fall were the start of the boom, which peaked in January before beginning a sharp decline.

“The chance for another upsurge in California is real” if people drop their hats or if mutations of the virus are common, Ghaly said.

He urged people not to gather on Sunday for big Super Bowl celebrations, which could become a super-distributor event.

“Try to share as little as possible except the cheers,” he said. “Do not stumble upon this.”

The state is also taking a number of steps to prepare for the possibility of a fourth wave. It keeps an order in place that accelerates patient transfers between medical facilities, continues to bring in health workers from outside and helps hospitals make sure they have enough oxygen for patients with respiratory illness, Ghaly said.

Meanwhile, the state of nearly 40 million residents is ironing out a bumpy rollout of COVID-19 vaccines characterized by too few doses and different provincial rules for those who are immediately eligible to receive them.

Ghaly said the state administered more than 3.5 million vaccine doses, which significantly increased the daily number of shots he gave just a few weeks ago, Ghaly said.

The administration of Biden has promised to increase delivery and on Tuesday, CVS pharmacies announced that they will start vaccinating people in some stores in California next week.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, California is still keeping other U.S. states in vaccinations, and desperate residents are constantly reporting problems trying to schedule an appointment as government officials try to set up a system that protects the most vulnerable.

Officials last week made the big announcement that the state is creating a new, centralized distribution system for vaccines, led by Blue Shield, the insurance giant. But a letter of intent signed by the state and the company announced Monday that details of the program are still being developed, even though government officials said they hope to switch to the new system by mid-February.

The state authorized health workers, teachers, food and agriculture workers, other first responders and people aged 65 and over to be vaccinated. In a surprise move last week, Gavin Newsom announced that the state will next move to an age-based system, which, among other things, is angering people with disabilities that were previously on the agenda.

The Newsom administration ‘denies a promise to ensure our community is safe,’ said Judy Mark, president of Disability Voices United.

“What they are saying is that they are willing to protect all the people and caregivers around people with disabilities, but not the people with disabilities themselves,” she said.

___

Amy Taxin in Orange County, Janie Har in San Francisco and Kathleen Ronayne in Sacramento contributed to this report.